Improvement in reversible latches



W. E. SPARKS. Reversible Latch.

No. 201,958. Patented April 2,1878.

iUNITED S Arne PATEN OFFICE.

WILLIAM ,EQSPARK'S, on NEWBRITAIN, CONNECTICUT, AssIeNoIt 'ro .rya F.GORBIN, on SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN REVERSIBLE LATci- Es.v

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 201,958, dated 'A ril2, 1878 application filed March 9, 1878.

To-all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM E. SPARKS, of NewBritain, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Reversible Latches, ofwhich the following is a specification:

Reversible latches in great variety are old, in which may be foundslotted hubs and a lever or slide, one part of which plays in the slotin the hub when the spindle is removed, in such manner as to allow thelatch-bolt to be pulled out and reversed, an example of which may beseen in my prior patent of December 25, 187 7, No. 198,704. It is alsoold to operate the latch-bolt by a hub having one short arm and one longarm acting upon a lever at one side of the hub.

My invention consists in the combination of a slotted hub with the leverupon which the hub-arms act, said lever playing in the slot of the hubto make a pull out reverse, also, in the combination therewith ofaspring-actuated lever, as hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevation of areversible latch which embodies my invention, the same being representedwith the front plate partially broken away. Fig. 2 is a front elevationof the same with the parts in a different position; and Figs. 3, 4, and5 are detached views of parts thereof.

A designates the case for holding both a lock mechanism and a latchmechanism. B designates the latch-bolt, having the ordinaryhead andround and headed spindle a. O designates the lever upon which the armsof the hub act, one end of said lever being forked or slotted to receivethe head of the spindle a, so that the latch is swiveled therein. Thislever is hung on a stud, b, in the case A, and is provided with atail-piece, c, acted upon by the spring 61. The hub D has two armsformed on it--one long and one short-the latter working on the lever Onearest its center of motion, and the former the farthest therefrom, asin ordinary lever-latches. This hub is slotted on the side nearest thelever, the slot extending into the usual square hole for the knobspindlefor about half its width, as indicated by broken lines extending fromthe corners of the square hole outward in Figs. 1 and 2. The lever (1,instead of bearing upon both arms of the hub, as in ordinarylever-latches, when the bolt is in the position shown in Fig. 1, onlycomes in contact with the long arm, while the short arm must be movedquite a little distance before it engages the lever. When the latchboltis protruded to the extent shown in Fig. 1, the front edge of the lever0 just reaches the corner of the square hole in the hub, as shown inFig. 2, so that when the knob-spindle is inserted the head of thelatch-bolt cannot be pulled out of the case; but when the knobspindle isremoved the latch-bolt maybe extended out of the case to reverse it,because the edge of the lever and short arm were not previously incontact, as before described, and thereby the hub is allowed to make thenecessary movement to let the head of the latchbolt forward, the edge ofthe lever O entering the square hole of the hub, as shown in Fig. 2. Theshort arm and edge of the lever are,

however, so located that when the arm overtakes the lever it will drawthe latch-bolt wholly into the case by the time the hub has made (afterleaving the position shown in Fig. 1) the same part of a revolution thatit makes in drawing back the bolt through the long arm of the hub.

Inorder to prevent the hub from having a partial rotation without someresistance, and also to prevent the spring from protruding thelatch-bolt into the position shown in Fig. 2 when the knob-spindle isnot within the hub, I employ a supplementary lever, E, having atail-piece, a, of substantially the same length and shape as thetail-piece 0, and acted upon by the spring d. This lever E is hung onthe same stud, b, with the lever O, and the end nearest the hub pressesupon the short arm of the hub, while the long arm is pressed upon by thelever O. This always throws the bolt to the point shown in Fig. 1, andleaves it there. If the bolt is pulled forward, as shown in Fig. 2, thenthe long arm is forced forward with the lever O, and the short armswings backward, carrying the lever E, thereby compressing the spring d,which spring will restore the parts to their former position. Wheneverthe latch-bolt is forced inward by the long arm of the hub, the spring 6acts upon the tail-piece c of the lever G to resist the turning of thehub, and to restore it to its former position when released. The spring(I bears against the tail-piece e of the lever E, so as to offerresistance to the turning of the hub with its short arm toward the leverbefore it reaches the same, and restores both levers to their formerposition after they have been forced back by said arm, whereby the slackor lost motion of the hub, which is necessary in order to pull forwardthe lever for reversing, is not felt by a person operating thelatch-bolt by means of the spindle-knob.

I claim as my invention 1. In a reversible latch, the hub D, having onelong and one short arm, and slotted as described, in combination withthe lever 0, having the latch-bolt swiveled thereto, and hung so as toengage the arms of said. hub, but at a distance therefrom which willallow the necessary forward movement for the reversal of the bolt,substantially as described, and for the purpose specified.

2. In a reversible latch, he combination of the slotted hub l),oscillating lever O, with the latch-bolt swiveled thereto, thesupplementary lever E, and the spring d, all operating togethersubstantially as described, and

for the purpose specified.

WILLIAM E. SPARKS.

Witnesses:

CHARLES PEOK, E. L. PRIOR.

